Can you make money from poetry books?

[Octagon]

I'm thinking about writing a book full of poetry and prose poems. Is it possible for me to make decent money from this? Should I self-publish or publish the traditional way? What do you think?

[RAVENEYE]

I have no idea if chapbooks are still a thing poets do. Probably?

If someone doesn't know what a chapbook is, here's a definition:

A chapbook is a short (10–30 poems) collection of poems with a unifying principle, theme, question, or experience. A chapbook can be a site for a poet's obsessions. It can be their calling card, connect them with others, grant them legitimacy, and even serve as a stepping stone to a full-length collection.

So chapbook might be a place to start. Doubt there's much money to be made until you gain a reputation, and that would likely mean carrying these chapbooks to conventions, and other places where writers and readers meet up, as well as having them for sale online on a professional-looking website and market yourself online. 

Have you tried networking with poets at conventions to ask how they went about it and how to make it worth your time and dime? In the meantime, are you actively submitting poetry to magazines and getting some of them published and building credibility in that way? Once rights revert back to you after a few months, those poems can then be put into the next chapbook.

If you're wanting to publish just for your own self, to be able to pass out the book to friends and family, then self-pubbing is the way to go. You can publish for free at Amazon or other places, if you design your interior and cover yourself.

I Googled "chapbook publishers" and got lots of returns, so it must be something that poets are still doing. When you do your research into publishers, be very careful about vanity presses and scams preying on hopeful, overeager poets. Check with Writer, Beware! before choosing one.